Customer Reviews

Sometimes the best way to get a feel for a broadband provider is to read what those who are already customers think of the service they're receiving. Below are all the reviews we've received for Plusnet.

How Plusnet Compares

Ratings are left by users of our speed test as well as by reviewers. Recent star ratings summarise the last 12 months of ratings or the last 100 placed, whichever is largest.

Reviewer

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Reviewing

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Ratings

Awful. Following a house move and cancellation I was bombarded with emails and calls regarding my now cancelled direct debit despite having been informed that nothing was owing on the account. I was then sold or rather missold an all inclusive package but had to commit to a two year contract. The landline qas installed fine, broadband a week late, both my wife and I work from home, no apology no compensation. Prices have continued to rise despite being sold a 'won't change' package, was advised that if exchange upgraded then we would automatically be upgraded too - this did not happen. Received an email advising of changes in charges and able to terminate with no fees, did this today only to receive email advising of termination charge - unbelievable, but no surprise. Surely this has to be THE WORST provider out there

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Paul L

Dumfries

Plusnet

2015-07-12

I am choosing PlusNet this week after reading all these reviews, I am with TalkTalk at the moment and last Wednesday my broadband service dropped out 23 times and on Friday about 30 times, eve my short time writing this has seen it drop twice.

Karl Whitburn

London

Plusnet

2015-07-12

I have been a customer of plus net for 3 and a half years now. Every year there seems to have been some form of issue. Ok, i understand problems can occur and no provider is excellent! but how much do you tolerate? is the question.

2nd year: Things are starting to get a little bad now. Loss of connection, red lights constantly on the router over a period of time. I ring customer service up, the bloke who then tells me to open up the telephone socket and make sure wiring is intact. Absoutely SHOCKING!.. For starters how do you know i'm somebody that's even able to do such a task? (luckily for him, i run my own maintenance business, so i do have know how) but that's beside the point.

Moving on!

I get told to do all the basic tasks, switch on and off, make sure cable's aren't unplugged and etc. I then persuade him to send out an engineer. Engineer finally turns up after 5-days and in the mean time i get a lovely email from plus net, telling me if the fault is within my telephone line, inside my home, i will be charge £56+ VAT for a call out. Very upsetting if you ask me!

Engineer now arrives (a complete noob!) His interests are only to why i have more than 1 master telephone socket in my home and this is the reason to why i'm having problems. I then briefly explained to him, we've had broadband in our home for the last 11-12 years, we've never had such an issue with the sockets, and i don't believe these are causing the problem, we operated a small home business a long time ago, that's there reason for being there.

At this stage he refused to check any further, unless i allowed him to disconnect every telephone socket and leave only 1! very very poor workmanship from somebody who classes himself as a BT engineer!

Upon doing whatever checks necessary, he then realised the router itself was faulty! After ruining all my sockets in the home. Replaced the router and also tried to give me some cobblers by telling me he did a "line reset" which was required to fix a fault also.

i check there website for Service status and see a maintenance list come up of all the area's effect. My town (East of lon) wasn't even in the list and yet i was suffering tremendously! few day's later i'm now getting an email of PRICE INCREASES! lol! what a joke!

The speed plus net claim to give you is never even close when you do a broadband speed check. There suggested speed is calculated over a monday morning 9am schedule. Not busy periods

So people this is my story, for those searching for a broadband service i strongly recommend you look elsewhere and think twice!

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Haroon

East london

Plusnet

2015-07-11

We've had issues with PlusNet for over three long years. The contract came up for renewal and after many discussions with PlusNet I told them I would not renew unless they could promise they would sort out my problems. Reassured things would be fixed I stupidly renewed for another two years. Our telephone line crackles so badly we use our mobiles and the broadband drops off. Usually after it's been raining. Eventually a few weeks ago an engineer was sent out. I knew our line from the telephone pole is fine as an engineer working on the one outside our home was working on it, and he checked for me. We told customer services we didn't want to be charged for him coming out, and kicked up a fuss about it.The engineer said there was no fault on the line and changed the telephone socket which was very old. He informed my wife the problem was fixed. A week later PlusNet texted me and told me that after monitoring the line and connection that there was a fault and they would send out another engineer. When they contacted me, again by text they said an engineer would be visiting when nobody would be home, so I rang PlusNet to reschedule. Customer services said there was no problem with the line. 'Really?' I queried. The telephone line is now buzzing and the broadband is dropping off either after one, eight or twenty minutes usage. I was given online a colourful chart showing my broadband was working, curiously though I was logging on and off at several minute intervals. I told PlusNet this was where the broadband was dropping off and starting but they won't believe me. I've now kept a diary which they'll be receiving. They are in breach of contract as I'm paying for something I'm not receiving. I feel I'm locked into something and now PlusNet have my money they really do not care about their poor service.

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Paul

South Bristol

Plusnet

2015-07-09

ONE STAR IS FA A A A R TOO MUCH

---2015-7-08---
Called them to complain...AGAIN... about their useless ISP service...

Call lasted 37m41s on my cellphone!...

RESULTS!... TOTAL WASTE OF TIME!...

Called a couple of times in the past few months...
Expected call waiting time is ALWAYS at least 15m...
I believe it is kept at this so people will just not waste their valuable time waiting for them to answer... (crafty plan?)

Then they ask you you a tring of annoying questions
"Just to justify they are speaking to complainer!!"
Yes I am spending 31minutes 41seconds mobile time because... well I've got nothing better to do...(while my ISP is not working)

Then they make me go through all the technical connecting, disconnecting, changing routers and telling me to move my original router to the main telephone box to check it there (which would involve a lot of office furniture moving)
and if I don't and they find a wire fault somewhere...
I WILL HAVE TO PAY THE CALL OUT!!...

THEY told me, about 2 months ago to move it in the first place...(didn't offer to pay me for my time and professional services)...

WHAT THE HECK DO I PAY A MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION FOR!???...

I signed a contract stating that I would pay Plusnet a certain fee each month if they supply me with uninterrupted bandwidth 24 hours a day for each day of the month...

I am paying... FACT!
Plusnet is NOT SUPPLYING!... FACT!
"Breach Of Contract"... I certainly think so!...

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John Barnard

Bedford

Plusnet

2015-07-08

Tried to move home and take Plus Net with me. Contacted them with plenty of notice and was told it'd be installed in new home just a week after I moved in. Ok, a bit longer than I'd hoped but fair enough. Then something went wrong - 'the order wasn't built correctly'. So there would be a delay from July 3 to July 7. Annoying, but ok. Had to call them for an unrelated issue so thought would check if was still on for 7th. Apparently not (not that they'd bothered to tell me). Would now be the 10th but they'd call back to confirm. no call. I contacted again on June 6 - he would look into it and get back to me - he didn't. I rang again on July 8 - now looking at July 17 for earliest. Again, only found this out because I rang. Asked how much it would be to contact - as I'd signed up to a new contract would be over £200 to cancel, even though they're not actually providing me with any service. A joke. Very tempted to cut my losses and pay the money the customer service has been that bad. Happy to provide you with my user name plus net if you want to leave a reply, though i'm sure i'll just get a generic, we're doing all we can message.

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Jonathan Brown

York

Plusnet

2015-07-08

terrible service .i do not thing they have a enough server to deal with their hostile selling method.their advert saying about customer service excellence??!!lie..you have to wait one hour to speak to someone on the phone and they are useless.i have a same fault over two weeks but no one cares.do not get contract with them.probably they will go bankrupt soon.their advert and reality is different.i do not think some one is checking them,DO NOT TAKE THEIR CONTRACT,BECAUSE YOU DO NOT GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR...

ozzy

highbury

Plusnet

2015-07-07

I am another one of the many customers who have not had my Internet connected yet, despite having signed up over 6 weeks ago. My service is still not connected and customer services have failed to contact me about this issue to resolve it. Currently out of pocket massively as I'm still using my mobile data at great expense. To sum up this company I'd have to say they are a complete bunch of scumbags who deserve to die of cancer, and all of their children too..... Just so there is not another generation to carry on this legalised robbery of our time and hard-earned cash. They are scum, and nobody has closed them yet. This robbery on a massive scale is still being allowed. Shame on you Ofcom for not addressing this and allowing us customers to be dragged through this ordeal.

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Christopher Croft

TAMWORTH

Plusnet

2015-07-05

I SUCESSFULLY SUED PLUSNET/BT IN MY LOCAL COUNTY COURT !

In February 2014 I contacted PLUSNET to install a phone line & supply a modem & broadband at the new house I was moving to, I paid them £72.98, I received confirmation of my order (a contract ?)in the post the following day & 2 appointments were booked for a month later for the work to be done. I moved to my new house & waited, I took 11 hours off work unpaid to be at home for the BT Openreach engineers, but no one turned up, I tried to contact PLUSNET on my mobile several times only to be told I was in a queue & had to wait over 40 minutes, I also tried to contact them by using the local call box - again I was in a queue & would have to wait over 50 minutes. I wrote to PLUSNET to complain & demanded my £72.98 back plus my lost salary circa £400 including compensation for breach of contract & explicitly gave them 14 days to comply or I would take them to the small claims court, their response was to offer me a miserly £25 for my inconvenience & my money back if I formally asked for it, "HOW OUTRAGOUS!" So of course I made a claim through MYCOL the online small claims service, I offered mediation & waited for their response, NOTHING for approximately 12 months ! so a hearing date was set & surprise surprise I start to get phone calls & an offer in writing of £150 to settle this time from BT LEGAL. I now know that PLUSNET in their incompetence failed to book the 2 appointments with their parent company BT OPENREACH thus wasting my time & causing my financial loss. The case was heard on 03/07/2015, PLUSNET/BT didn't even bother to attend simply sending a letter, I had a very thorough, & severe but legally professional examination of my claim & my evidence by the justice (I'm not going to mention his name) my award was just shy of £300 & they have until the 25th of July to pay. I shall keep you informed. I would urge anyone who has issues with utility companies be it water/gas/electricity or telecoms to do as I did & use the small claims court – that is what it is there for ! At the time of writing this BT have 5 CCJ’s against them dating back to 2011 (& now 6 with mine) this company & its subsidiaries simply don’t care if they break civil law – it’s time we ALL complain & use the courts to get justice.
Eriko.

Satisfaction

eriko

oxford

Plusnet

2015-07-05

Switched from Sky last year. with sky I had a 12meg connection, since switching I had 8-9 meg, as with others my connection was constantly dropping and had to reboot the Plusnet modem every time to rectify the issue. I have worked in IT for the last 15 years and spoke to PlusNet on numerous occasions and explained it is a problem with the Modem/router, every single time they did a line test and fobbed me off saying it was a wirless issue even thought i`m using wirless and RJ45 network cables from diffrent pcs. In the end i gave up with plus net support and dug out one of my old Routers a Netgear DGN2200 and since I replaced the Plusnet pile of ****, im getting 11.3 meg and no drop outs at all. Plusnet support are the worst I have had to deal with.

March 2015 saw average download speeds recorded by users of our Broadband Speed Test drop slightly by 0.32Mb in comparison to the results from February, coming in at 21.11Mb. Average upload speeds remained stable at 4.22Mb.

Virgin Media's average download speeds dropped by a further 1.29Mb to 39.69Mb, with upload speeds remaining stable at 5.34Mb. BT Broadband hold second place with average download and upload speeds remaining stable at 19.85Mb and 5.81Mb. Plusnet remain in third place, with download speeds taking a 1.15Mb hit down to 14.59Mb with a 0.29Mb increase to 5.08Mb for average upload speeds. TalkTalk stay in fourth place, with download speeds increasing by 0.78Mb to 14.26Mb and upload speeds holding stable at 1.76Mb. Finally, Sky are in fifth place with a 0.57Mb decrease to download speeds, putting them at 12.8Mb, with upload speeds falling slightly to 3.24Mb.

February 2015 saw average download speeds recorded by users of our Broadband Speed Test drop by 0.48Mb in comparison to the results from January, coming in at 21.43Mb. Average upload speeds saw a 0.23Mb increase to 4.32Mb.

Virgin Media's average download speeds dropped again by 0.63Mb to 40.98Mb, with upload speeds remaining stable at 5.5Mb. BT Broadband remain second place with average download speeds dropping by 0.53Mb to 19.87Mb, though upload speeds increased by 0.29Mb to 5.97Mb. Plusnet hold third place, remaining stable at 15.74Mb for average download speeds with a 0.38Mb increase to 4.78Mb for average upload speeds. TalkTalk are also stable in fourth place, with download speeds at 13.22Mb and upload speeds at 1.75Mb. Finally, Sky are in fifth place with a strong 1.34Mb increase to download speeds, putting them at 13.37Mb, with upload speeds increased by 0.49Mb to 3.44Mb.

Plusnet Buyers Guide

Can I get Plusnet?

Plusnet is owned by BT and benefits from BT’s network covering most of the UK. However, this does not mean that all areas have identical options available to them.

The broadband regulator, Ofcom, allows providers to make savings when selling broadband to customers connected to telephone exchanges where some broadband providers have installed their own equipment (market classification), which tend to be within large towns and cities. Plusnet passes on those savings to customers in these higher competition areas, meaning these customers can get a cheaper deal. You can find out if this applies to where you live by using our postcode checker.

However, Plusnet’s fibre-optic packages are only available in fibre network areas, as it depends on the same fibre to the cabinet technology as used by BT Infinity, which is currently available to two-thirds of UK households, typically in cities and towns. Again, you can use our postcode checker to find out if you live in one of these areas and are able to get Plusnet Fibre.

What packages are available?

Plusnet Unlimited - unlimited, allowing you to use the internet as much as you like without limits on how much you're allowed to download or upload

This package comes with up to 17Mb download speed, but your speed could be a fair bit less than this due to various factors such as your distance from the BT telephone exchange, with speeds getting progressively slower the further away you are and the number of people using the network, with speeds at peak times such as evenings being slower than late at night. You can check how far you are from your nearest exchange using our postcode checker.

In addition to these, Plusnet also offer two fibre-optic broadband packages:

These use newer technology which offers much faster download speeds than the regular ADSL broadband, and distance from phone exchanges does not matter as the connections use fibre-optics as far as the street cabinet, so the slow-down from copper wire is only based on the distance from these. This means that far more people can enjoy the faster speeds, and even homes that are relatively long distances from the street cabinet can generally receive speeds in excess of 15Mb.

Plusnet offer the option to add a phone service to any of these packages. All Plusnet Broadband & Calls packages come with Plusnet Weekends, which offers free inclusive weekend calls to UK landlines, 0845 and 0870 numbers, and free inclusive anytime calls to Plusnet customers and Plusnet support. For an extra £5/month you can upgrade to Plusnet Anytime which offers free inclusive anytime calls to UK landlines. Finally, you can upgrade to Plusnet International Anytime 300 for an extra £7/month over the basic package, which comes with free inclusive anytime calls to UK landlines and 300 inclusive anytime minutes to 35 international destinations as well as 25% off top international call destinations outside of your 300 minutes.

You need to pay line rental with all packages with a calling plan, although you can save on line rental fees by paying for a year up front. Standalone broadband packages require a phone line, but you have the choice of staying with your current phone provider, taking out line rental with Plusnet or choosing another supplier that suits your needs.

Which package should I choose?

An important first question to ask yourself is if you need the speed of fibre of if you can get by with standard broadband speeds.

The extra speed is indeed much faster and thus a tempting prospect, but there is no point paying for it if you’re not going to use it. Plusnet’s ADSL speeds of up to 17Mb are easily sufficient for most online activities including Skype calls and downloading music. However, this is not the case if you live far enough from a telephone exchange that your ADSL speed would be very low.

It would also be worth getting fibre if you are a heavy downloader, or regular gamer, as these are both activities that would benefit from the extra speed, reducing download times and preventing lag in games. Fibre packages will help also prevent slowdown in households with many heavy internet users, such as student flats or homes with large families, where one connection has to be divided between several people.

If you're a heavy uploader, perhaps because you share your own YouTube videos or use cloud backup and sync services, or if you're in a busy household where several people may be streaming HD video at once, then you may benefit from the upgrade to Unlimited Fibre Extra offering up to double the download speed and almost 10 times the upload speed.

Points to consider before you choose

How far do you live from a BT telephone exchange, and will this be a problem for your ADSL speeds?

How many people will be using your broadband connection at any one time, especially for heavy downloading or online games?

Are you a heavy uploader, or someone who uses cloud backup and sync services?

What do I get when I sign-up?

It's always good to know upfront what you'll get when signing up with an ISP so you know what you can enjoy for free, or to budget for any extras you may want.

Wireless router - All new customers signing up to Plusnet will receive a free wireless router worth £40. It comes with four ethernet ports for wired connections and ‘N’-reated wireless technology giving you a better signal, and it’s easy to set up, automatically connecting to the internet for you when you follow the set-up guide. If you wish to use your own router instead, Plusnet will allow that provided you check with them that it is compatible.

UK-based customer service - Unlike most other providers, Plusnet’s customer service is entirely based in the UK, and is available between 7:30am and 10pm, 365-days a year to help with any queries you may have. All Plusnet phone customers get free calls to Plusnet's customer service.

Plusnet Protect - Powered by McAfee, Plusnet Protect is Plusnet’s internet security package free to Unlimited and Fibre Extra customers, available for an extra £2 per month for standard Fibre. Up to 7 PCs can be protected through its anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-phishing and firewall tools. It also allows you to set parental controls to filter what children using the internet can access.

Plusnet Assist - Plusnet Assist is a tool provided free to Plusnet customers that allow them to take much of the hassle out of sorting out broadband connection problems. This instant technical support tool will watch for problems and attempt to fix any it encounters, including reconnecting if your connection drops, or troubleshooting your e-mail account.

Static IP available - Customers on Unlimited Broadband and Unlimited Fibre Extra can add a static IP address for a one off payment of £5.

What are the benefits of Plusnet?

The benefits offered by an ISP may be what seals the deal in your decision to buy a package from them.

Cost - Plusnet is among the cheapest of the large providers, making it a good choice for those on a tight budget or those who just like to save money. If you want standalone broadband without bundled line rental and calls, Plusnet tends to be the cheapest available.

One month contracts - Unlike many other providers, Plusnet offer one-month rolling contracts. Once you have paid a free to activate the service, you only need to give 14 days notice to cancel, meaning you are not committed to long contracts lasting a year or more. This is ideal for those with short tenancy agreements, students, or those who may need to move with minimal notice.

Standalone broadband - Plusnet are one of the few large providers to offer standalone broadband packages, meaning you don’t need to take your line rental or calls from Plusnet in order to use their broadband service. Plusnet's phone bundles are good value and you can keep your existing phone number, but if you'd prefer not to switch phone supplier or have found cheaper options elsewhere, you have the flexibility to do this with Plusnet broadband.

Unlimited usage on all deals - There's no reason to choose between price and usage allowance when Plusnet's entire range of broadband products come with no limits on the amount you're allowed to download or upload each month.

Value line rental - If you take a package including line rental, you can cut the cost of this by paying a reduced price for a year of Plusnet line rental up front, producing a significant saving over the monthly rate.

Award winning - Plusnet have won numerous awards for their customer service and value. The most prestigious of these is that they are current holder of Which? Magazine's recommended broadband supplier award.

What are the drawbacks of Plusnet?

Let's face it, not everything can be perfect, and even the best deals may have a downside.

Few extras - Unlike many of the larger providers, Plusnet does not offer much in the way of extras like wi-fi hotspot access, online TV or a home move service. However this is reflected in the cheaper cost, and it does not affect the core broadband service.

Not truly unlimited - traffic management is used to prioritise real-time interactive traffic like VPNs, streaming, browsing, email and gaming over less time-critical traffic like downloads and file sharing, and to flex the network during abnormal load such as major news events or network outages. For the majority of users this will improve performance at peak times, but if you do a lot of downloading or uploading you may prefer to opt for a truly unlimited broadband service instead.

No contract option is more expensive and not available with Fibre - 1 month contracts cost £2.50 per month extra, have a £25 installation charge and don't qualify for most Plusnet special offers. Only available on Standard (ADSL) products, not Fibre.

Higher rural prices - Although Plusnet is owned by BT, their packages are still cheaper in some areas than others. The cheapest prices tend not to be available in rural and remote areas - although due to the Ofcom market classification mechanism this is tied to, Plusnet are still likely to be the cheapest or among the cheapest stand alone broadband on any exchange.